Passport to the Universe

1 | 2

(Continued - 2 of 2)

The Rose Center’s design represents a significant departure from the windowless boxes that form the exhibition environments of most museums. Why is architecture such a forceful presence here? “We wanted to make science seem accessible,” says Ellen Futter, the Natural History Museum’s president. The sphere floating in the cube “makes you yearn to get in,” she adds.

Yes, the sphere looks something like a planet, but it is such a fundamental geometric form that it can accept larger meanings. The structure exerts a strange fascination, especially for the passerby on West 81st Street, because it does not cue you to its size. The sphere simply hovers in its sparkling box, glowing ethereally. Polshek says he was inspired by a brooding, twilight vision drawn in 1784 by Etienne-Louis Boullée, an architect of the French Enlightenment. Boullée sought to evoke vastness or infinity, transporting the individual beyond himself to a more spiritual, contemplative realm. Certainly this is an apt metaphor for what the museum itself is attempting.

Museums of this kind recognize that they are competing with computer games and other increasingly sophisticated amusements for the attention of visitors. They are tempted to provide dumbed-down “edutainment”–eye candy posing as learning. Ralph Appelbaum Associates probably does a better job than anyone at packaging real information in a way that stops in their tracks even those visitors who want no more than to see the coolest things, then leave.

Appelbaum’s team layered information so that children can take away a basic appreciation of the universe while an adult with a serious interest in galaxy formation can learn much more. And there’s no pandering: while an exhibit examines the question of life on other planets, there’s no speculations about aliens in our midst, no paen to Star Trek. The curators intentionally offered no comfort to Creationists.

The weakest link, ironically, is the “star” attraction–especially given the hefty $9 additional adult admission. While the night sky is projected with new crispness and realism in the planetarium and the galaxies are spectacular (it took two supercomputer centers to model them), the program is packaged with gratuitous Sci-Fi graphics and the script, narrated by Tom Hanks, purveys predigested awe.

Is there a lesson here for the Franklin Institute as it takes on an ambitious renovation? Perhaps it is embodied in the Center’s director, Tyson, once a star-gazing African-American kid introduced to the world of astrophysics by the old Planetarium. At a recent press event he gathered a crowd of reporters wandering the museum, enchanting them with the palpable excitement he conveys for his field. He made it kindergarten story time.

Getting architecture and artifacts to exude Tyson’s kind of commitment is a great deal to ask. In an era of troubled schools and too many distractions, it’s thrilling when it works.

END

(Continued)

1 | 2